Class Materials for History 203, 204, 205

On this page you will find important terms that you will need to know and questions that will appear on the exams and final. The terms and questions will be divided by chapter.

culture	cataracts
archaeology	Nomes
scribes	Harappa
city-states	Vedas
Sargon	Brahman
cuneiform	pharaoh
Aryan	oracle bones

1. What influence did the Neolithic Revolution have upon the development of world civilization? How do we know how people lived before written history? Discuss the kinds of evidence we have and the reliability of this information.

2. Hammurabi's code reflected the Mesopotamian society of his time. Indicate the major features of this society as they are reflected in the code and the similarities and differences with other ancient law codes. What are the advantages and disadvantages to such a code?

1. What are the basic tenets of Confucian thought? How did they evolve and influence Chinese education? In what manner was Confucian thought different from other major religious and philosophical ideas? Why was there a long delay before this philosophical system became an important part of Chinese society?

2. What are the major aspects of Buddhist rebellion against Hinduism? Why did Buddhism spread from India? In what ways are both religious movements similar and different?

3. Describe the importance of the Old Testament as a reliable historic source. Give appropriate examples from Hebrew political history to support your main ideas. What is the importance of a written source for a religious belief?

4. Describe and discuss any two of the following Chinese philosophies: Confucianism, Legalism, Taoism.

Cnossos	Helots
Homer	Polis
tyrant	arete
Solon	Pericles
Aristotle	Plato
Socrates	hoplite
Marathon	Alexander the Great

1. Define the concept of a Polis. Why did the Greeks consider it to be a unique institution? What are the major difference between a Greek Polis and a modern country of Western Europe or America? In what ways are they similar?

2. Describe and discuss the philosophies of any two Greek philosophers studied thus far.

3. What were the major consequences of Alexander's death? Why did his empire fail to maintain political unity? Assess the achievement of Alexander. Was he a conscious promoter of Western Civilization or just an egomaniac drunk with the lust of conquest?

Indo-Greeks	Magi	Satraps
slavery	Ahura Mazda	steppe peoples
Achaemenid	Zoroastrianism	Mauryan Empire

1. Why was the Achaemenid Empire successful for so long? What was the political basis for Achaemenid power?

2. How was the Mauryan Empire created? What role did the Greeks play in its creation? How did Ashoka develop Mauryan power and prestige?

1. How was the political system of the Meroitic Empire similar to and different from that of Egyptian rule? Be specific about the royal succession.

2. How did Aksum become a Christian community? Did this disrupt Aksumite trading relations with Byzantium? What long-range ramifications did a Christian community in Ethiopia have for the development of Islam?

Legion	Latifundia
Punic Wars	Hannibal
Patrician	Plebeian
Actium	Consul
Gracchi Brothers	Paul of Tarsus
Cleopatra	Octavian
Pharisees	Messiah

1. Describe and discuss the fall of the Roman Republic. In your essay, be sure to discuss the issues of the latifundia, the rise of pauperism, slavery, the reforms of the Gracchi, and the rise of the generals and the independent army.

2. Describe and discuss the fall of the Roman Empire. Pay particular attention to imperial politics as well as economics in your essay. To what extent did the values of Christianity replace those of pagan Rome?

1. What advantages did Buddhism have over Daoism in China? Of these differences, which do you believe the Chinese found to be most advantageous, compelling conversion? Why?

2. With regard to the spread of Buddhism in India and China, what are the distinctive features of its diffusion? What features do you believe contributed to the resiliency and distinctiveness of Buddhism in China and the eventual indistinguishable form it took in India?

3.What was the "dynastic cycle?" In what sense was it a Confucian moral rationalization? Was a cycle of administrative and military decline especially true of Chinese government or can we see the same pattern elsewhere?

4. How did Legalism help the Qin unify China? What other factors played a part? What were the main features of Qin administration? Why did the Qin collapse?

Censorate	Li Po
shamans	abacus
examination system	equal field system
scholar-gentry	Empress Wu Chao
Genghis Khan	Yuan Dynasty
Bodhisativa	Chu Hsi
Marco Polo	four-tier policy
Kublai Khan	Ch'an or Zen

1. What is the importance of the Sui Dynasty to the T'ang Dynasty? What former Chinese empire developed a role model for these two dynasties? What great building program developed in the Sui period?

2. What was the impact of Buddhism on the T'ang Dynasty? Why were there three distinct Buddhist divisions? Did this movement represent certain social strata?

3. What was the importance of the examination system in the Sung period? How did this development bring about stability in the court? Who had the best opportunity of passing the exam?

4. Describe the methods utilized by the Mongols to control China. What advantage was there in maintaining a language barrier between the Mongols and the Chinese? What happened to the examination system during the Yuan Dynasty?

Yoritomo	Pimiko
*bakufu*	Ashikaga
Yayoi revolution	The Tale of Genji
*Kana*	Pillow Book
*Tendai*	*Shingon*
shogun	Temmu
Samurai	Yamato Period
equal field system	tomb culture

1. What are the major characteristics of earlier religions in Japan? How did Shintoism differ from Buddhism? In what manner was this development different from religions in China? Why was this movement confined to the islands of Japan?

2. What were the important cultural contributions of the Nara and Heian periods in Japan? What was the first novel ever written and what was the impact of this book on the Japanese upper class?

3. Why was Buddhism popular in Japan? What was the importance of the art forms, Mahayana Pantheon, and rituals to the Japanese? Do Confucianism and Taoism have important roles in Japanese religion?

4. How did civil authority shift to military control in Japan? What was the importance of the bakufu? What was the revenue base for the new government after 1180?

5. Why did the Mongol invasions of Japan fail? Where did the attacks take place? What was the Japanese main defense? What were the domestic political repercussions of these invasions in Japan?

1. What are the key elements of the Manichaean religion? How is it related to Christian and Zoroastrian traditions?

2.In what sense can the High Gupta period be considered a "golden age?" What was the extent of the empire? Why did it collapse? Where did the locus of Indian culture move after the fifth century and why?

Muslim	Ka'aba
Hegira	umma
caliph	jihad
imam	Qur'an
haj	Sunni
Shi'a	Sharia
Mecca	Medina

1. What are the main concepts of the doctrine of Islam? How is this faith different from Christianity? What is the position of women in the faith? What is the importance of other faiths to this movement?

2. What was the importance of the umma to Muslim society? How were the religious minorities and non-Arab converts treated? How did the change of the Islamic capital to Baghdad affect the empire?

Clovis	Charlemagne
Odovacer	wergeld
Manor	Fief
vassal	scutage
serf	Black Death
flagellants	pogrom
Giovanni Boccaccio	The Decameron

1. In what ways were Greco-Roman institutions and ideas alien to Germanic society? In the field of law, compare and contrast the manner in which Roman law and Germanic law went about determining guilt or innocence. Be sure to discuss the compurgation, the ordeal, and trial by combat. What was the religious basis, if any, for some of these methods? What was the wergeld?

2. Compare and contrast feudal society of about 850C.E. with the patron/client relationship of the Roman Republic.

3. Describe Charlemagne, the man and the ruler, and his society. How and why did his empire break up?

Teotihuacan	Popul Vuh
Olmec Heads	Toltecs
Cuzco	calpulli
Pyramid of the Moon	Machu Picchu
Huitzilopochtli	Tezcatlipoca

1. Describe and discuss the Aztec rise to power. Could the Aztecs be described as a warrior society? If so, why? What are the possible political and religious reasons for human sacrifice? What happened to the Aztecs?

2. Both the Aztec and Inca empires fell in the early sixteenth century when confronted with Spanish forces of only a few hundred men. Why were the American Empires defeated?

3. Discuss the importance of the Maya culture and its influence in southern Mesoamerica. What was life like in such Maya centers as Tikal and Chichen Itza? What were the greatest contributions of the Maya?

Martin Luther	John Calvin	King Henry VIII
Reformation	Thirty Years' War	Gustavus Adolphus

1. Compare and contrast the theologies of Martin Luther and those of the Roman Catholic Church. Where did they agree? Where did they disagree? What was Luther's attitude toward simony, pluralism, absenteeism, and the sale of indulgences? What was his position on the seven sacraments and why?

2. Why did King Henry VIII of England break with the Catholic Church? Was the "new" religion he established really Protestant?

3. Describe and discuss the course of the Thirty Years' War. What were its major phases? Who were the outstanding military leaders? What did they contribute to warfare?

4. "The Thirty Years' War is the outstanding example in European history of a meaningless conflict." Evaluate this statement and provide specific reasons.

mercantilism	*quinto*	*repartimiento*
*hacienda*	*encomienda*	Hernan Cortes
Jamestown	Bartolomeo de Las Casas	*peninsulares*

1. How did the Spanish organize their empire in the Americas? Was this an efficient operation economically?

2. Describe the encomienda system. How did it differ from the repartimiento? Why was the hacienda such a dominant institution in rural and agricultural life?

3. Describe and discuss the Atlantic Slave Trade. Where were slaves obtained and how were they treated? How did slavery as an institution differ from other varieties of forced labor in the Americas? How did slavery affect the economy of the transatlantic trade?

4. Discuss mercantilism in theory and practice. What were its main ideas? did they work? which European country was most successful in establishing a mercantilist empire? Why?

*hari kari*	*ronin*	Kabuki Theater	arquebus
Shensi Banks	examination system	*Sengoku Jidai*	Tokugawa Ieyasu

1. How did the Warring States develop in Japan? Why did the wars continue for over a century? What institutions were changed in the country because of these long wars?

2. What was the "foot soldier revolution?" What weapons were developed during this time and how did they change Japanese warfare? What is the significance of the arquebus and how was it used?

3. How did Japanese culture change during the Tokugawa period? What was the importance of Confucianism to the culture of Japan? Why was the influence of the West limited in this time period?

Louis XIV	Peter the Great	flintlock musket
Puritans	Long Parliament	paper cartridge
St. Petersburg	War of Jenkin's Ear	*L'etat, c'est moi.*

1. What were the main instruments of power in France under Louis XIV? How did he maintain absolute rule in France? Discuss the central government, provincial administration, the economy and political propaganda.

2. The Seven Years' War was a major conflict with battles fought around the world. What were the results of this war? Who emerged in a stronger position and why?

*ancien regime*	*Junker*	*Hoberaux*
*bourgeoisie*	*corvee*	enclosure
Jethro Tull	Charles Townsend	family economy
Agricultural Revolution	Pugachev	*taille*

1. What caused the agricultural revolution? How did technological innovations help change European agriculture? What factors explain the increase in Europe's population in the 18th century? What were the effects of the population explosion?

2.Define the term family economy. What were some of the particular characteristics of the northwestern European household?

3. Describe and discuss the privileges of the various European nobilities. What was the economic basis of the life of the nobility? How much authority did they have over other groups in their various societies?

John Locke	Joseph II	*philosophes*	*Wealth of Nations*
Galileo Galilei	Partition of Poland	"Enlightened absolutism"	Voltaire

1. Choose three of the following and discuss each one's contribution to the Scientific Revolution: Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler, Bacon, Newton, and Brahe. Which of the three made the most significant contribution and why?

2. Discuss the ideas of mercantilism and compare and contrast those ideas with the ideas of Adam Smith. Which set of ideas is more influential today?

3. Were the enlightened monarchs true believers in the ideals of the philosophes or was their enlightenment a mere veneer? Were they really absolute in power? What motivated their reforms? What does the Partition of Poland indicate about the spirit of "enlightened absolutism?"

1. Discuss the British military problems in North America during the American Revolution. What was the difference between the way the British Army fought and the way the Americans fought? Were British military operations in North America coordinated and effective? Why or why not?

2. Discuss the American Revolution as a European movement. To what extent were the colonists influenced by European ideas and political developments? To what extent did their actions influence Europe in turn?

3. " Napoleon was no military genius. His victories depended on the weakness and disorganization of his enemies rather than upon his skills as a general." Comment on this statement. Do you agree or disagree? Be specific in your examples.

4. How important were San Martin, Bolivar, and other military leaders to the Latin American independence movements in the 1820's? Did the success of "strongmen" in the liberation of Latin American countries at this time limit democracy in this region in subsequent years?

Concert of Europe	"rotten boroughs"
proletariat	Decembrist Revolt
*Communist Manifesto*	liberalism
nationalism	Tsar Nicholas I

Giuseppe Mazzini
Camillo Cavour
*Kleindeutsch*
Otto von Bismarck
Giuseppe Garibaldi

1. Why was the Crimean War fought? Who were the participants and how did the results of the war affect European history in subsequent years?

2. Why was it so difficult to unify Italy? What groups were urging unification? Who was Cavour and how did he achieve what others had failed to do? What was Garibaldi's contribution to Italian unification?

3. Who was Bismarck and why did he try to unify Germany? What attempts had preceded Bismarck and why did they fail? What was Bismarck's policy of unification and why did he succeed? What effect did the unification of Germany have on the rest of Europe?

rifled musket	repeating rifle
abolitionists	ironclads (Monitor & Virginia)
submarine (Hunley)	13th Amendment
14th Amendment	15th Amendment
Reconstruction	Harpers Ferry

1. The Civil War has often been characterized as the first modern war. Do you agree or disagree with this idea. Justify your answer.

Jethro Tull	Industrial Revolution	James Watt	Thomas Newcomen	steam engine
Agricultural Revolution	liberalism	spinning jenny	Karl Marx	railroads

1. What caused the industrial revolution of the 18th century? What were some of the technological innovations and why were they important? Why did Great Britain take the lead in the industrial revolution?

2. Did the agricultural or industrial revolution affect 18th century life more profoundly? Why?

3. Why was England able to achieve and maintain the leading position in the industrialization of the early to mid-nineteenth century?

4. In what ways did the industrial economy change the working class family? What roles and duties did various family members assume? Did the adoption of new machinery and the factory system in and of itself destroy the working class family? Be complete in your analysis.

1. Why was India called the "jewel in the crown" of the British Empire? How did Great Britain gain control of India? What policies did they follow in government and economics?

2. How was the Islamic world internally divided after 1800? How did those divisions influence the coming of European powers?

3. What were the three main interests of Europeans in the "Dark Continent?" Why were native Africans unable to stop the "scramble for Africa?"

Opium War	Taiping Rebellion	Mao Tse-tung	Meiji Restoration
Boxer Rebellion	Chiang Kai-shek	Russo-Japanese War	Tojo Hideki

1. Which had a greater impact on China, the Opium War or the Taiping Rebellion?

2. After the Meiji Restoration, what steps did Japan's leaders take to achieve their goal of "wealth and power?"

Triple Alliance	Triple Entente	Sarajevo	unrestricted submarine warfare
poison gas	tank	machine gun	*Lusitania*
trenches	Red Baron	Treaty of Versailles	Russian Revolution

1. What ws the Schlieffen Plan and what was it intended to accomplish? Why did it fail?

2. Describe and discuss the nature of warfare during World War I. What was life like in the trenches? How did the machine gun change war? Was this something that was expected?

3. Why did Germany lose the First World War? Could it have won, or was victory never a possibilty?

4. Why was Lenin successful in establishing the rule of the Bolsheviks? Was Lenin right in taking Russia out of the war?

5. Assess the settlement of Versailles. What were its good points? bad points? was the peace too harsh or too conciliatory? Could it have ensured peace in Europe? How might it have been improved?

Adolf Hitler	Depression	Fascism
Benito Mussolini	Nuremburg Laws	War Communism
Francisco Franco	President von Hindenburg	Ernst Rohm
NEP	reparations	Nazi Party

1. Why did Lenin institute the New Economic Policy? Was it successful? Could the Russian Revolution have succeeded without Lenin? How important was he in changing the history of the 20th century?

2. How did the Depression affect Germany? Discuss Hitler's rise to power between 1929 and 1934. Why was he successful? Was his dictatorship inevitable? Was his success due more to personalites than to impersonal forces?

3. Why did Stalin decide that Russia had to industrialize rapidly? Why did this require the collectivization of agriculture? What obstacles stood in the way of collectivization and how did Stalin overcome them?

*Lebensraum*	Stalingrad	Hiroshima
*Anschluss*	"island hopping"	Nagasaki
appeasement	Midway	*Kamikaze*
*Blitzkrieg*	Solomon Islands	Holocaust
Final Solution	Atomic Bomb	Battle of Britain

1. Why did Britain and France adopt a policy of appeasement in the 1930s? What were its main features? Did the appeasers buy the West valuable time to prepare for war by their actions at Munich in 1938?

2. How was Hitler able to defeat France so easily in 1940? Why was the air war against Great Britain a failure?

3. Why did Japan attack Pearl Harbor? What was the nature of the Pacific War in 1942? How did the opposing battle fleets operate? What were the decisive battles during 1942? What was "island hopping?" Why did the United States use the atomic bombs at the end of the war? Was the United States justified in doing so?

4. Some historians have looked at the 20th century and have seen it as a period of great destruction as well as great progress. Is this truly a "century of Holocaust?" Discuss the ramifications of this question.

cosmos	Atman
Confucius	karma
Analects	Nirvana
Mencius	Buddha
Sun-tzu	Jainism
Taoism	Torah
Lao-tzu	Abraham

Ethiopia	Meroe	Kush	Nubia
oral traditions	Nok people	Aksum	silent trade

Dynastic Cycle	Neo-Daoism	*Nirvana*

Pastoral People	Hangaozu	Silk Road

Mahayana	Theravada	dharma
Manichaeism	varnas	stupa
jatis		Bodhisattva

*parlements*	Great Fear	*sans-culottes*	Declaration of the Rights of Man	Civil Constitution of the Clergy	National Constituent Assembly
Napoleonic Code	Stamp Act	Saratoga	Simon Bolivar	Battle of Waterloo	Jose de San Martin

East India Company	Raj	Kemal Ataturk
Mohandas K. Gandhi	Muhammad Ali	"Scramble for Africa"